Villa Lola is located outside of Akureyri, the largest town in northern Iceland, across from Eyjarfjodur Bay with unrestricted mountain views to the north and south. The client wanted a home that could be divided into three apartments and also stipulated that the home require little maintenance and have as little impact as possible on the site. Taking inspiration from the surrounding landscape as well as Swiss mountains cabins, a sea ranch in Sonoma County in California and Japanese solutions in spatial efficiency, Arkis designed this wood-clad home.

The home’s volume is composed of three alternating roof slopes, which point towards the sky forming a valley in between. Built from wood except for one concrete wall, used for stabilizing the structure, and a concrete foundation, Villa Lola is then clad in larch wood. Time will have its way with the larch and weather it to a gray-ish color, forming a natural weather protection and a low maintenance exterior. The flooring is made of robust wooden boards and concrete terrazzo, the walls are painted with environmentally friendly paint and all the windows are of wood, clad with aluminum on the exterior. During construction, the builders worked carefully to ensure there was little impact on the site and waste was recycled wherever possible.